Latin American Influence in the USA

During the first decade of the 21st century we have witnessed a considerable growth of the Hispanic culture in the United States. It is not surprising then that the Hispanics are exerting a strong influence on all areas, from politics to business, film, music and art. This minority group is the largest in the US and already represents 15.8% of the population, with more than 48 million people.

Although the Hispanic population is not homogenous, nor distributed evenly throughout the states, it does clearly exercise a social influence in the country. The southern states of Florida, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada and California represent the majority of the Hispanic population with between 15% and 20% of the total. The state of Maine is home to the lowest Hispanic population, with approximately 1% of the total.

There are two professional sectors that have helped to create this special influence: music and film. Among the most influential Hispanic people, according to Time magazine, are Jennifer Lopez, an authentic beauty who has made a name for herself in film and music, and her husband Marc Anthony. The Estefan´s (Emilio and Gloria), Enrique Iglesias, Christina Aguilera or the late Selena have also undoubtedly influenced Latin music, although not part of the Time magazine list.

In Hispanic film there are also many great figures. Time magazine mentions Robert Rodriguez, a director and friend of Quentin Tarantino, who gave action films a new impulse filled with originality and fun. Among the many other influential Hispanic people in film are: Salma Hayek, Eva Longoria, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Antonio Banderas, Benicio del Toro, George Lopez and many more. The number of Spanish television channels in the US has also been growing steadily.

The large number of magazines, newspapers, radio stations and other media outlets are directed specifically towards the Latin American market. This proves that this minority group is able to exert a great influence on the American political class by generating opinions.

In politics, since the 60's of the last century, the electoral influence of the Cubans in Florida has been felt. This Hispanic influence has also been noticed at a political level in many other states where Hispanics occupy positions of great relevance in federal politics, such as Alberto Gonzalez, who was the Attorney General of the United States under the administration of Gorge Bush. Mel Martinez and Ken Salazar are two Latin Americans who occupied seats of the US Senate.

Lionel Sosa is a marketing consultant who attracted the attention of the Latin community when he founded the largest Hispanic advertising agency in the U.S. The modest advertising agency was able to gain Latin votes for republican candidates like Ronald Reagan and George Bush. In fact, Bush received 40% of the Latin American vote. Important companies like Dr. Pepper and Bacardi contracted the agency to promote their products within the Hispanic community.

In the business world, the businesses whose owners are Latin Americans have been growing three times faster than others, generating 2 billion dollars a year. Some of these companies include: Latinvox, Ron Bacardí, Goya Foods, Tampico Beverages Inc. or Univision Radio.

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